Page 626 - DRACULA

Dracula

he escape not on shore tonight, or before dawn, there will
be the whole day lost to him. We may then arrive in time.
For if he escape not at night we shall come on him in
daytime, boxed up and at our mercy. For he dare not be

his true self, awake and visible, lest he be discovered.’
There was no more to be said, so we waited in patience
until the dawn, at which time we might learn more from
Mrs. Harker.
Early this morning we listened, with breathless anxiety,
for her response in her trance. The hypnotic stage was
even longer in coming than before, and when it came the
time remaining until full sunrise was so short that we
began to despair. Van Helsing seemed to throw his whole
soul into the effort. At last, in obedience to his will she
made reply.
‘All is dark. I hear lapping water, level with me, and
some creaking as of wood on wood.’ She paused, and the
red sun shot up. We must wait till tonight.
And so it is that we are travelling towards Galatz in an
agony of expectation. We are due to arrive between two
and three in the morning. But already, at Bucharest, we
are three hours late, so we cannot possibly get in till well
after sunup. Thus we shall have two more hypnotic

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